Trivia: Though perhaps best remembered for playing the suave, mysterious Mr. Roarke on the popular television series Fantasy Island (1978-1984), and for his car commercials in which he seductively exhorted the pleasures of the upholstery ("Rich, Corinthian leather") in his distinctive Spanish accent, Ricardo Montalban once played romantic leads in major features of the '40s and '50s. He also had a successful career on-stage. Born Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalban y Merino in Mexico City, Montalban spent part of his youth in the U.S. The tall, dark, handsome, and curly haired actor first worked as a bit player on Broadway before returning to Mexico in the early '40s and launching a film career there. By 1947, he had returned to the States and signed with MGM. That year, Montalban played his first leading role opposite Cyd Charisse in the romantic musical Fiesta (1947). It would be the first of many roles in which he would play a passionate singing and dancing "Latin Lover." He and Charisse again teamed up as dancers in the Esther Williams musical water extravaganza in On an Island With You (1948). At one point, it was a toss-up between Montalban and fellow MGM "LL" Fernando Lamas as to which was more popular. It would not be until 1949 before Montalban had the opportunity to play a non-romantic role as a border agent who gets revenge upon the killers of his partner in Border Incident. His second serious role in Battleground (1949) ranks among his best performances. By the late '50s, he had become a character actor, often cast in ethnic roles, notably that of a genteel Japanese Kabuki actor in Sayonara (1957). He had occasionally appeared on television since the late '50s, but did not appear regularly until the mid-'70s. In 1976, Montalban earned an Emmy for his portrayal of a Sioux chief in the television miniseries How the West Was Won. In the early '70s he was part of a touring troupe that read dramatic excerpts from Shaw's Don Juan in Hell. In 1982, Montalban reprised a role he had made famous on the original Star Trek TV series as the ruthless Khan to star in the second Star Trek feature, The Wrath of Khan. In the '80s, Montalban only sporadically appeared in feature films. His television career also slowed, though he occasionally appeared on series such as The Colbys (1985-1987) and Heaven Help Us! (1994). Montalban has written an autobiography, Reflections: A Life in Two Worlds (1980). Confined to a wheelchair after a 1993 spinal operation left him paralyzed from the waist down, Montalban remiained in good health despite being in constant pain, and continued to play an active role in promoting Nostros - a non-profit organization founded by Montalban in 1970 and dedicated to improving the image of Latinos within the entertainment industry. In the late 1990s and early 2000s Moltalban's career recieved something of a second wind when he began performing vocal work on such animated television series' as Freakazoid!, Dora the Explorer, and Kim Possible, with a role as the kindly grandfather in Robert Rodriguez's Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams and Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over even giving the wheelchair-bound actor an opportunity to triumphantly rise once again thanks to the magic of special effects. Additional vocal work in the 2006 animated family adventure The Ant Bully continued to keep Montalban busy despite his physical limitations. His brother, Carlos Montalban, was also an actor.

Trivia: With a rare beauty that has inspired countless platitudes and an almost-permanent place on People's Fifty Most Beautiful list, Michelle Pfeiffer had to work long and hard before getting respect for her talent, rather than mere adulation for her looks. Born April 29, 1957, in Santa Ana, CA, Pfeiffer got her first taste of fame in her late teens, when she won both the Miss Orange County beauty contest and then the title of Miss Los Angeles. After high school, Pfeiffer went to college for a year, deciding that she wanted to become a court reporter. It was while working in a supermarket that Pfeiffer realized that acting was her true calling and she auditioned for commercials and modeling assignments while she attended acting school.Pfeiffer debuted before the cameras in a one-line role on the TV series Fantasy Island and went on to a string of bit parts on TV. She debuted on the big screen in a small part in Falling in Love Again (1980) and then had small roles in two more films before getting her big break with the role of Stephanie in Grease 2 (1982). This led to her portrayal of Al Pacino's wife in Brian De Palma's 1983 classic Scarface, for which the actress garnered favorable attention and greater opportunities. Her first starring role was in the comedy thriller Into the Night (1984) with Jeff Goldblum and was followed by a turn in Richard Donner's fantasy adventure Ladyhawke (1985). Over the next couple of years, Pfeiffer acted in films of varying quality, but it was with 1987's The Witches of Eastwick that her career turned in a truly positive direction. Starring alongside Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Jack Nicholson, Pfeiffer received much acclaim for her work, acclaim that continued with her turn in Dangerous Liaisons (1988), for which she received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination. The same year, Pfeiffer took on an entirely different role as a Mafia wife in the 1988 hit comedy Married to the Mob. In 1990, she was rewarded with yet another Oscar nomination -- this time for Best Actress -- for her portrayal of a nightclub singer in The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989). The 1990s proved to be a good decade for Pfeiffer, allowing her to branch out with a variety of roles that kept her from being pigeonholed and provided opportunities for her to showcase her versatility. Highlights from the first half of the decade included the 1991 romantic drama Frankie and Johnny, in which she played a frumpy, bitter waitress opposite Al Pacino; 1993's underrated Love Field, for which she received her second Best Actress nomination; Tim Burton's 1992 adventure Batman Returns, in which she co-starred with Michael Keaton and a lethally sexy cat suit; and the acclaimed 1993 Martin Scorsese adaptation of Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence. That same year, Pfeiffer would finally realize her lifelong goal of motherhood when she adpoted a baby girl named Claudia just a few short months before walking down the aisle for a second time to wed Ally McBeal and Boston Legal creator David E. Kelley (the actress' previous marriage to actor Peter Horton had dissolved in 1988). In 1994, Pfeiffer and Kelly would complete their nuclear family when the ecstatic mother gave birth to young John Henry.The second half of the decade saw Pfeiffer stick to dramas and romantic comedies, notably the 1996 hit One Fine Day with George Clooney, Jocelyn Moorhouse's 1997 adaptation of Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres, the star-studded 1999 adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and the family drama The Deep End of the Ocean. Through it all, Pfeiffer maintained her siren status while increasing her bankability, no small feat in an industry where women over the age of 27 are often labeled as past their prime. Not that Pfeiffer would be in any danger of losing her looks in the near future; after perfectly meeting the rigorous standards of California plastic-surgeon Dr. Stephen Marquardt's complex "beauty formula" in 2001, the sultry actress was singled out as having the most beautiful face in all of Hollywood. Of course Pfeiffer's face alone couldn't be held accountable for her wild success, and the millennial turnover found the talented actress apprearing in such high-profile features as Rob Reiner's comedic marriage drama The Story of Us, Robert Zemeckis' supernatural thriller What Lies Beneath, and the Sean Penn drama I Am Sam. A supporting role in the 2002 literary adaptation White Oleander found Pfeiffer supporting an all-star cast of Hollywood up and comers, and a role as the voice of the goddess Eris in 2003's Sinbad: The Legend of the Seven Seas marked her first foray into animated feature territory. In 2006 Pfeiffer would continue to turn heads when she accepted the role of an older woman who falls for a younger man in director Amy Heckerling's I Could Never Be Your Woman. A small role in director Adam Shankman's phenominally successful remake of John Waters' Hairspray was quick to follow, and after enchanting fantasy fans in 2007's Stardust, the veteran actress was sexy as ever as an aging seductress in Stephen Frears' Cheri. And though her 2008 film Personal Effects only received a limited release, Pfeiffer would quickly returns to the screen in director Garry Marshall's episodic rom com New Years Eve, and Tim Burton's misguided feature adaptation of the popular supernatural soap opera Dark Shadows.

Trivia: A puckish actor/singer, he sprang to national attention when he won the Tony Award for the Abe Burrows/Frank Loesser Broadway hit How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, repeating his role in the film version in 1967. His few film appearances include The Matchmaker (1958), The Loved One (1965), Oh Dad, Poor Dad (1966). Morse won another Tony Award in the '90s for his portrayal of Truman Capote in the one-man show, Tru, and has been nominated another handful of times. His television work has been sporadic, although he did star in the unusual musical-comedy TV series That's Life (1968-69).

Trivia: Supporting and character actor Herve Villechaize appeared in 13 feature films, but he is best remembered for playing Tattoo, Ricardo Montalban's chirpy sidekick on Fantasy Island (1978-1983). Born to a French father and English mother, Villechaize was a dwarf who stopped growing taller after hitting 3'9". Before becoming an actor, Villechaize studied art in Paris and New York. Deciding acting was the better venue, he studied under drama teacher Julie Bovasso. He made his feature film debut in The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight (1971) and went on to play small "novelty" roles in exploitation and cult movies such as Malatesta's Carnival and Oliver Stone's Seizure (1974). One of his more notable roles was that of an evil dwarf in the James Bond thriller The Man With the Golden Gun (1974). Villechaize was married three times. On September 4, 1993, he fatally shot himself, allegedly to escape his many health problems.

Trivia: Fresh out of the University of California, sprightly Colorado-born actress Barbara Rush attended the Pasadena Playhouse, walking several miles to and from her classes to save up enough money for her tuition. Before launching her film career, she married actor Jeffrey Hunter, the first of two desultory unions. She became a favorite of little boys of all ages due to her leading-lady stints in two of the most influential science fiction films of the 1950s, When Worlds Collide (1951) and It Came From Outer Space (1953). After biding her time in idiotic programmers like Prince of Pirates (1953), she emerged as an A-list leading lady at the major studios, adept at both comedy (Oh Men! Oh Women! [1957]) and drama (The Young Lions [1958]). Easing into character parts in the 1960s, Rush was often cast as viper-tongued shrews, cheating wives, and abrasive alcoholics. She also surprised many of her fans by appearing as "special guest villain" Nora Clavicle on an outrageous 1968 episode of Batman, which proposed that the miniskirted policewomen of Gotham City could be cowed into submission simply by releasing mice into the community. Though she hasn't been seen in many films in later years, Barbara Rush has continued to flourish as a stage actress and TV guest star.

Trivia: Actress Lisa Loring is best known for having played spooky little Wednesday Addams on the 1960s comedy The Addams Family (1964-1966). After the show ended, Loring voiced the same character for the cartoon version of the show (1973-1975) and then disappeared from television and acting until 1980 when she made her feature-film debut in Sadie, an adult (X-rated) reworking of W. Somerset Maugham's Rain. She appeared in at least one more such film and then went on to work in such low-budget exploitation films as Blood Frenzy (1987) and Blizzard of Blood (1988).

Trivia: Joseph Pevney may not be the first name that one thinks of in terms of record-breaking movies, but the actor-turned-director -- who had a pretty considerable stage career before turning exclusively to the movies in the second half of the 1940s -- was responsible for some of the highest-grossing movies in the first four decades of Universal Pictures; and between and around them, he was one of the most reliable filmmakers in Hollywood, a touch he didn't lose when he jumped to television in the second half of the 1960s. He was a director with a widely recognized knack for making something substantial out of very little script, which proved a priceless gift on both the large and small screens. Joseph Pevney was born in Manhattan in 1911, the son of a watchmaker and amateur songwriter. He was a natural performer and made his debut at age 12, in 1924, as a boy soprano, in vaudeville. In those days, kid acts had a novelty value, but among the practitioners were a few genuine prodigies who had what it took to extend their career into adulthood -- Alfred Newman was one on the piano, and Joe Pevney was one as an actor. He hated vaudeville and intended to become a doctor, even becoming a pre-med student at New York University, but by then he couldn't escape the lure of the theater. He was soon devoting his energy to directing varsity dramatics and before graduation ever became an issue, he was an assistant stage manager and bit player on Broadway. His first professional appearance on stage as a serious actor was in Johnny Johnson, and he subsequently appeared in such major plays as The World We Make, Key Largo, Golden Boy, and Native Son. Pevney juggled his acting and directing work throughout the 1930s, and it was while directing in a summer theater in Iveryton, CT, in 1939 that he first met Mitzi Green, an actress who'd been working from an even earlier age and had lately made her Broadway debut. They were married in 1942 and had two children who they raised in a successful bi-coastal life, keeping a home in the San Fernando Valley and one in Flushing, Queens. Pevney's career was interrupted by World War II, which took him to Europe as a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. He was also in the 1944 revival of Counselor at Law on Broadway starring Paul Muni, playing Harry Becker, the injured, wild-eyed communist agitator (played by Vincent Sherman in the movie). His last major stage appearance was in Home of the Brave, in which he played Coney. Pevney made his big-screen debut in 1946, in Edwin L. Marin's crime thriller Nocturne starring George Raft and Lynn Bari, and the following year played a major co-starring role with John Garfield and Lilli Palmer in Robert Rossen's Body and Soul (1947). He was in a couple of more very good movies, including Jules Dassin's Thieves' Highway (1949) and his own Outside the Wall (1950), before he gave up acting permanently in favor of directing. He was signed up at Universal and proved to be a dual-threat director, very good with actors -- obviously as a result of his years of experience on stage -- and yet was also well able to set up and bring off an action scene on budget and excitingly. Pevney worked with such future stars as Rock Hudson (whom he initially did not want) in the movie The Iron Man, Mamie van Doren, and Frank Sinatra when he was still trying to prove that he could be a serious actor, and did well with and by all of them. He was equally good at drama, comedy, thrillers, and costume epics, but he seemed to have special success -- in terms of the acting that resulted -- working with Tony Curtis (in Six Bridges to Cross) and Jeff Chandler. He and Chandler, with George Nader and Richard Boone in supporting roles, proved an unbeatable combination in Away All Boats, which became the highest grossing movie in the history of the studio up to that time. He followed that grim, intense war drama up barely a year later with a gentle, lyrical, romantic, and seductive Tammy and the Bachelor (1957), which was not only a huge hit but also yielded a string of sequels (none directed by Pevney). He was not a great stylist, but for reasons that even they themselves don't understand, the French film critics liked his movies anyway, and if American critics were less accommodating, the American public expressed their approval of his work by turning it into a string of hits. He moved into television during the 1960s and directed dozens of episodes of Bonanza and some of the most popular episodes from the first and second seasons of Star Trek, including "Arena," "Amok Time," "The Trouble With Tribbles," and "The Immunity Syndrome," before turning to directing made-for-television features. Pevney retired in the 1980s, but his best movies and television episodes have continued to find new life on cable television and DVD releases well into the 21st century. He died in 2008 at age 96.